Madras HC quashes TNHB allotment case against minister Periyasamy

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court quashed the case registered against the Rural Development Minister, I Periyasamy, for his alleged connection with the allotment of housing plots to the wife of former DGP MS Jaffar Sait.

Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan issued an order allowing the plea of I Periyasamy and quashed the vigilance case filed against the minister.

Senior counsel R John Sathyan sought to quash the case on two grounds – one that all the other accused have been relieved, with cases against them quashed, but the petitioner alone is facing the trial. Secondly, the petitioner, being a state minister, only the government can issue sanctions for the prosecution, but in the present case, it was granted by the Speaker of the Assembly.

In 2008, Periyasamy, who was the then minister for the housing department, allegedly allotted 4,763 sq ft and 3,457 sq ft of Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) plots in Tiruvanmiyur to Sait's wife, Parvin, under the discretionary quota.

In 2011, after the AIADMK assumed power in the State, DVAC filed a case against Periyasamy, alleging he misused his public office and illegally allotted the plot to an IPS officer's wife.

Because all the other accused, including Sait and his wife, were relieved from the case, the petitioner moved the plea to quash the case pending in the special court.